Cantilever beam scale

ABSTRACT

An improved device for the measuring of weight or force is disclosed. This is an apparatus that allows for measurement of weight or force using a cantilever beam that is substantially insensitive to location of the weight or force within certain limits on the beam and is capable of correction for off-level conditions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1) Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to the field of weighing, and specifically to measurement of force or weight in situations where the location of the force or weight is not known and/or cannot be controlled.

2) Description of Related Art

Devices for measuring weight or force are common in everyday life and commerce. Often these devices function by measuring the mechanical strain in a small area of the device with an attached resistor commonly referred to as a “strain gauge” which changes resistance with strain or by balancing against an accurately known reference weight on a lever device. In these devices the location of the weight must be controlled or the effect of the weight on the loading platform must be controlled mechanically. In some devices, where position of the weight cannot be precisely controlled or known, such as scales for use in refuse truck front forks, the designers have opted to use a shear force measuring load cell or to place strain gauges in a location and in geometric features optimized to measure shear force near the root of the cantilever beam. Theoretically, the shear stresses are a function of the applied load and geometry and are independent of the exact location of the loading of the beam. In practice this has been difficult and resulted in cantilever beam scales which contain mechanical complications, produce inaccurate results, and are fragile. The bending forces in the cantilever beam are generally greater, but vary with position of the weight or load and in prior art, cannot be used to measure a weight in devices that cannot control or determine location of the load. What is needed therefore is a means to resolve a weight or force without knowing or controlling location using a mechanically simple and robust device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of problems associated with the current art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanically robust, accurate, and inexpensive means to weigh or measure force by detection of bending stresses without regard to location of the load to be measured, and to provide correction for real world difficulties such as off-level weighing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity to the appended claims. The present invention, both as to it's organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may be best understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a view of prior art.

FIG. 2 is a view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Various modifications, however will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide an Improved Cantilever Beam Scale.

Present art, depicted in FIG. 1 shows a beam affixed to a load cell. The load cell is designed to change shape as a load “W” applied to the beam. Due to geometry, the load cell of FIG. 1 by design changes shape with load from a nominal rectangle into a nominal parallelogram. Because of this, it is intended by design to react to a shear force and thus be affected as little as possible by the location of the load “W” along the length of the beam. Strain gauges can be applied in the high strain areas of the load cell to measure this local strain. This local strain can then be used to calculate the load.

The present invention can be best understood by consideration of FIG. 2.

Shown in FIG. 2 is a cantilever beam, fashioned to use bending forces to resolve a weight or load. The well known formula for stress in a cantilever beam is WDC/I where I is the moment of inertia. In the case shown here, “I” is well known to be (b hˆ3)/12 for a beam with rectangular cross section as depicted in FIG. 1 though it is not intended to limit the device to such rectangular cross sections. Note that this beam has devices 1, 2, 3, 4 applied to measure local strain of the material. This is a well established practice and involves the use of elements whose electronic properties, usually resistance, change in a predictable manner with strain of the underlying material. These can be applied directly to the beam with an adhesive, mechanical fastener, or the strain gauges might be incorporated into a unit which is pressed into a hole or welded to the structure.

The stress at any location in the beam is determined by the load, given in FIG. 1. as “W” and geometry. The tensile stress that would be given by a strain gauge or other sensing device would be (W Dn Cy)/(I) where:

-   -   Dn is the distance along the beam from the load to the point of         local strain measurement     -   Cy is the distance from the neutral axis of the beam to the         point of measurement     -   W is the applied force or weight     -   I is the moment of inertia of the beam

From this, it is easy to see that each individual strain measuring device will have an output that varies predictably with both W and Dn. The gauge 2 will have an output in tension higher than gauge 1 The gauge 4 will have an output in compression higher than gauge 3. If D4 and D5 are known, it will be possible to resolve an unknown weight at an unknown location on the beam.

Resolution of the weight will start with the realization that local strain measured at 1, 2, 3, and 4 will vary linearly with D1. For the purposes of this explanation, we will imagine individual strain sensing elements 1, 2, 3, and 4 at positions 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. These can be applied directly to the beam at these locations or may be of a self contained type of local strain sensor with strain gauges arranged in Wheatstone Bridge configuration across an internal membrane. These sensors are in common use typified by product such as the “Gozinta” manufactured by SI Technologies that can be pressed into the holes shown at these locations. In fact, the location of the load on the beam can be determined by knowing the ratio of the outputs of 1:2 and D4 and/or 3:4 and D5. Given this, is can be shown that with a beam material that follows Hooke's Law: (strain sensed by gauge 1)/(strain sensed by gauge 2)=D2/D3. Accurately knowing D4 allows us to substitute D3 in the expression with its equivalent (D2+D4).

Here we can define a constant “K” as D4(Cy/I).

The weight applied to the beam can then be described as:

F=K (local stress at gauge2) ((local stress at gauge1-local stress at gauge 2)/(local stress at gauge2)).

Symmetry will obviously apply to the lower gauges as well though the stresses will be opposite, ie in compression. Further mathematical formulation can be employed to compensate for such real world situations such as bending or curving of the beam and off-level loading. 

1) An improved device for measuring weight or force comprising: a cantilever beam secured or affixed at one end, with multiple gauges or sensors placed at known locations on or in the beam substantially near to a secured end to detect local tensile and/or compressive stress or strain in the beam outboard of the sensors. 2) A metering and/or display device used to detect the outputs of said multiple gauges or sensors which are placed at predetermined locations on the cantilever beam of claim 1 which applies mathematical formulae to calculate a weight or force using a ratio of the outputs from the individual gauges or sensors placed in the cantilever beam of claim. 3) A metering and/or display device used to detect the outputs of said multiple gauges or sensors which are placed at predetermined locations on the cantilever beam of claim 1 which applies mathematical formulae to calculate the location of application of a weight or force applied to the beam using a ratio of the outputs from the individual gauges or sensors placed in the cantilever beam of claim. 4) A metering and/or display device used to detect the outputs of said multiple gauges or sensors which are placed at predetermined locations on the cantilever beam of claim 1 which applies mathematical formulae to correct for off-level condition of the beam. 5) The device of claim 1 where the beam is straight or curved or another non-straight beam shape which uses the ratios of multiple sensors or gauges to resolve a weight or force of unknown location on the beam. 6) The device of claim 1 where the beam is straight or curved or another non-straight beam shape which uses the ratios of multiple sensors or gauges to resolve a location of a weight or force applied to the beam. 